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Hot Lava Mama

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Posts posted by Hot Lava Mama

    Can one just not ever make friends?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Maybe there is a "Meet-up" group near her.  What are her interests?  Politics?  Hiking?  Have her search on meetup.com for anything that might interest her.  I know of many different types of groups close to us for almost everything you can imagine.

     

    My heart feels for her. I can understand how hard and depressing that is.  I hope she makes a connection soon.

    Hot Lava Mama

    • Like 1

    America: The Last Best Hope

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I was going to use it as a counterpoint to Zinn, but when we got to the part where Bennett said that all the stuff the Europeans did to the folks already in the Americas was balanced out because the Europeans got syphilis in return, my son refused to continue reading.

     

    So, I don't know.  

     

    Can you tell me what volume/page that was referenced?

    What does JAWM stand for?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Just Agree With Me

     

     

    (for when you want to express an opinion about something and don't want to have to argue or deal with people suggesting how to fix it....)

     

    Oh, o.k.  Gee.  I actually could use that on a daily basis in real life! 

    :)

    Thanks, AK-Mom4

     

    • Like 1

    WTMA Rhetoric Classes - Thomas Hummel

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Yes, I appreciate the feedback Hot Lava Mama offered as well!  Thank you HLM!  Rhetoric at WTMA was our plan for the future, but as I'm not a fan of the workshop method I'll have to give that more thought.

     

    I didn't mean to turn you off of WTMA!  Please reconsider that!

     

    Many of my kids have taken multiple classes from WTMA since it opened and we have been ecstatically happy with the classes and teachers.  I think I have had a DC in almost every one of the writing classes, too.  The ONLY thing I didn't like was the structure of the workshop classes.  They do not all do that.  It seems to me they have at least two different teaching styles in all the classes.  As you can see from PP above, different styles suit different people.  Some people love that style, others don't.  

     

    I would encourage you to look at another teacher for the same course in WTMA.

     

    :)

    WTMA Rhetoric Classes - Thomas Hummel

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted · Edited by Hot Lava Mama

    I signed my dd up for one of these classes today, but now I'm finding posts where people say he uses a workshop method for the class and doesn't give much individual feedback. He gets lots of great reviews, but I'm not sure this is exactly what I'm looking for.

     

    If you have taken one of his classes, did your child get individual feedback on their work?

     

    Several of my kids have had Hummel in a variety of writing classes.  I personally do NOT like the workshop method.  In the instance of a younger child in one of the writing classes, it was not only a completely worthless use of time, I found that the feedback was terrible.  A 7th or 8th grader simply does not have the skills to evaluate a piece of writing and give competent feedback.  Much of the time the comments from students consisted of "I liked it."  That was it.  I am not saying I want my kids to only learn what they did wrong, but SPECIFICALLY what is working/why it works and what needs to be changed/how to change it.

     

    I sat in on the classes with DC and saw there wasn't any real teaching being done.  It was basically all workshop.  When one DC was in a higher level class with work-shopping, it was slightly better because the high school level student has more skills to evaluate writing.  But again, at this level, I was looking for a really strong teacher to push my student to the college level.  Sadly, I didn't feel like the guidance I wanted was there. 

     

    I supplemented all DC's writing classes when they were in that type of class to get them to where I wanted them to be.  I was looking for a class to help excel my students beyond my capabilities, but found the workshopping method does not do that.   I specifically avoid classes that have, as the primary method of teaching, the workshop method.  FWIW, my DC also felt Hummel was way too easy and they were not learning very much.  I asked DC why they thought he was such a popular teacher. To a child, each one said because he was so easy.  It was an easy class to get an "A" if you did the minimum - sometimes even less than minimum - requirements.

    • Like 4

    Is accounting a good major?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Yes!  It is one of the most flexible majors out there!  Especially if you get CPA certified.  ALL industries need accountants, so a CPA can go into any field that is hot at the moment.  Also, it is flexible enough that you could work at home, build your own business, work for a firm, or work in industry.  It isn't super exciting, for those that need a thrill, but it will bring satisfaction and wealth, too.  Some of the wealthiest people I know are CPA's.

     

    Hot Lava Mama

    • Like 5

    This would be too weird right?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    So, after spending YEARS working on math with my kids I wanted to continue learning more after I got my kid as far as I could get him.  Although he was more dragging me along after awhile.  So I am taking the same class he is taking, but a different time and a different instructor.  I'm LOVING it.  Really really loving it.  I love the instructor.  I love the fact the students there mostly seem to want to be there.  That's something new to me in a math class.

     

    So anyhow, I had no specific plans in terms of whether or not I'd keep going with it.  It's become a sort of hobby and that's the sort of thing you can keep doing or move onto something else.  But..the more I go along, the more I am excited about going on.  I want to learn more.  But there is the little odd detail that if I did that, I would very likely have no choice but to end up in the same class as my kid.  I don't know if that's too weird.  Of course there is no rule against that.  But I dunno.  Might be weird. 

     

    He does not have an issue with it BTW.  In fact he said why don't I just take the same class.  I didn't want to and so I picked a time slot I knew he would never want to do (8am).  On the side of "this isn't a huge deal" there are a wide variety of ages in the class now.  Anything from fresh out of high school to older than me.  So I won't stick out for that reason. 

     

    What do you think?  Am I overthinking this?

    I think it is fantastic that you are doing that!  What a wonderful example you are provide for your child.  If he has no problem with you being in the same class, you should do it!  How fun!

    Good luck!

    Hot Lava Mama

     

     

    • Like 1

    WTMA has posted their 2017-18 schedule and course descriptions

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Does anybody have any experiences with Ms. Ostaff as a teacher?

     

    Yes.  Dd has Ms. Ostaff for Ancient History.  This is my Dd's favorite class BECAUSE of Ms. Ostaff.  Dd isn't really into history, but loves the way Ostaff teaches.  Teacher is open to helping in any way possible.  She also gives students many chances to get a good grade.  A lot of papers, but teacher gives options of "pre-review" of the paper, as well as a "post-review" option to improve the grade.  Dd has taken full advantage of the pre-review and as a result has never needed the post-review.  Ostaff will not be teaching history next year which completely bummed out Dd.  I HIGHLY recommend Ostaff.  She is awesome!  We both wish she taught more classes!

    Hot Lava Mama

    • Like 1

    For Fun: Homeschool Things You Just Don't Get (no hate)

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

     

     

    I do not get lap books. I want to , it's such a lovely idea, I even bought the colored folders and had the staplers and templates.  I even YouTubed. I ended up with a pile of crumpled, sad office supplies.  People who do 'em, good for you! I just lack the necessary coordination or creativity or .... spatial awareness? I don't know.  Not trying again.   Will admire from a distance.

     

    I'm with you, too!  Got all the stuff.  Printed all the blank forms.  Got all the pencils, crayons, scissors, glue, fun stickers, information, colored paper, etc. ready, only to see my kids groan at the idea.  So, to spur them on, I "helped" them.  Yep.  I ended up doing all the work!  Nope!  Not any more.  Seems like they would like it, but they didn't.

     

    :)

    Hot Lava Mama

    • Like 5
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